This disclosure relates generally to clutches employed in downhole mill out operations.
Subterranean well operations employ a variety of tools downhole for different purposes. For example, downhole valves can be employed at different locations of a tool string for a variety of purposes including to isolate sections of conduit of the tool string within a wellbore. Such valves can be individually actuated opened/closed to isolate different portions of the string of conduits along the length of the wellbore.
The operation of tools downhole in a tool string can necessitate different mill out operations within the conduit of the tool string. For example, it may be necessary after carrying out operations with a downhole tool to remove some portion of the tool to clear the conduit for additional operations within the tool string. In the case of ball seat valves, there can be a need to remove the ball, the seat, and/or other parts of the valve from the conduit after the valve has been actuated. In such cases, there may be a need to employ clutches to resist torque during the mill out operation to remove part or all of the valve (or other tool) from the conduit.
Clutches in these applications can be used to resist torque during the mill out operation so that the component that is being milled out does not rotate relative to the conduit within which the component is arranged. Currently many applications use clutches machined in situ, which may suffer from a number of disadvantages.